Champions League Fantasy Football: The Scout squad for Matchday 11

With some careful budgeting and some selection compromises, the Scout has managed to find room to bring in premium assets such as Kevin De Bruyne, Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mané and Karim Benzema for the first legs of the semi-finals on #UCLfantasy, presented by Playstation.

• Projected points for Matchday 11
• Popular picks and potential differentials
• Who should be your Fantasy captain?

Goalkeepers

Clean sheets are often at a premium as the UEFA Champions League reaches the latter stages and, with top-priced players an ever-increasing consideration, the finances play an ever-more important part. That said, three of the likely starting goalkeepers on Matchday 11 are valued in excess of €6m, leaving little room for manoeuvre.

With home advantage for the semi-final first leg against Real Madrid, Ederson (€6.2m) would be a strong contender enough without Manchester City's four clean sheets from four knockout appearances this season; Villarreal's Gerónimo Rulli (€5.2m) is less likely to manage a shut-out at Anfield but could be in for a busy evening, raising the prospect of adding to the eight save points he has gained already this season, which account for 20% of his overall Fantasy total.

Defenders

City face something of a selection headache in defence for the visit of Real Madrid with João Cancelo, the top Fantasy scorer in his position, suspended and Kyle Walker and John Stones injury doubts. Aymeric Laporte (€5.6m) is therefore all-but guaranteed to start at the City of Manchester Stadium as he looks to add to the 30 points he has already collected in this season's knockout rounds, while Nathan Aké (€5.2m) is a more calculated gamble given those issues.

The remaining three defenders all come from the game at Anfield. Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk (€6.2m) has 23 points from his three games in this season's knockout rounds, while Raúl Albiol (€5.6m) has picked up five or more Fantasy points in each of his last five UEFA Champions League appearances and is the third highest scorer overall among defenders. No defender has registered more than the centre-back's 62 ball recoveries, although team-mate Juan Foyth (€4.8m) has managed 41 and is a solid budget selection.

Midfielders

Budget constraints really begin to bite in midfield, although there is scope to include both Kevin De Bruyne (€11.1m) and Sadio Mané (€10.5m) with both in fine scoring form. The Belgian has six goals in his last nine City appearances in all competitions and, though he has drawn a blank in the last three, has provided three assists in that time; Mané, meanwhile, has five goals in his last six Liverpool games.

Arnaut Danjuma (€7.6m) struck twice in Villarreal's most recent Liga fixture and has four goals in his last five UEFA Champions League appearances, while Bernardo Silva (€7.8m) not only offers a lower-priced alternative at City but has scored in his last two games. Budget pick James McAtee (€4.3m) frees up funds for use elsewhere.

Forwards

That saving means Karim Benzema (€10.6m) is within reach despite being the top-priced forward remaining; seven goals in his last three UEFA Champions League games alone have helped the Frenchman to 79 Fantasy points this season, 28 more than any other forward still involved in the competition.

Unusually for the semi-finals, guaranteed starters among the striking options are somewhat thin on the ground but Liverpool's January signing Luis Díaz (€8.3m) has delivered 16 Fantasy points in his four games for his new club, including 12 in the quarter-final first leg at Benfica, and is in line to feature on Wednesday having begun on the bench in Sunday's Premier League win against Everton. With other nailed-on starters at a premium, Villarreal's Yeremy Pino (€5.8m) is backed to make an impact should he get a chance off the bench.